69传媒

K-State put up six scores and a season-high 559 yards leaving the offensively-inept Cowboys in their dust.

In the Wildcats69传媒� loss to BYU last week, head coach Chris Klieman was not a fan of his team69传媒檚 inability to overcome adversity and punch back. That was not the case on Saturday as the Wildcats fell behind briefly 10-7 midway through the second quarter before scoring five unanswered touchdowns on the way to their blowout win.

69传媒淚t was a statement win,69传媒� head coach Chris Klieman said. 69传媒淲hat we went through last week, and believe me, we challenged the guys and more importantly, they challenged each other 69传媒� if this group stays together and plays for each other and keeps the faith when we have some adversity, we69传媒檒l come out on the other side of it.

69传媒淲e have to keep pounding the stone every day and every snap. That69传媒檚 a good football team we beat convincingly. You69传媒檙e not going say this is a fluke or anything. We beat a really good football team handily.69传媒�

Sophomore Avery Johnson individually responded as well, in a number of ways.

In the game, Johnson had some starts and stops early on. He led the Wildcats to a touchdown on their opening drive, scoring on an 11-yard run after a 33-yard rushing touchdown for the sophomore was called back several plays earlier because of a penalty.

But Johnson and the offense stalled soon after, punting twice and turning the ball over on a rough interception on K-State69传媒檚 next three drives.

But after that, the young quarterback was on target, throwing for touchdowns to Garrett Oakley and Jayce Brown on the next two drives to extend the lead to 21-13 heading into the half.

69传媒淚 know (the interception) wasn't a good play on his part, but probably the great thing about it is it doesn't get to him,69传媒� Klieman said. 69传媒淗e doesn't let it eat him up for the next series. On Thursday (in practice), he may have been like 32-for-35. I grabbed him on Friday morning and I said, 69传媒楾hat's as on point as I've seen you in a practice.69传媒� And it was really good throws in tight windows. And so I see a guy that's gaining a lot of confidence, and so we were going to be more aggressive, especially on some early downs. And I thought he really delivered today.69传媒�

But what was perhaps more important was the rebound Johnson made during the week in practice.

Last week, the young quarterback threw two interceptions and didn69传媒檛 see the end zone versus BYU. On Saturday, Johnson had a career day, going 19-for-31 through the air for 259 yards and three touchdowns with just one pick while rushing five times for 60 yards and another two scores. He set new career highs in completions, passing yards and passing touchdowns while tying his record for total touchdowns scored.

It was a change of mindset midweek that helped turn the tide for Johnson, one sparked by a reading recommendation given to him by Wildcat director of strength and conditioning Trumain Carroll.

"He gave me a book this week called 69传媒業t Takes What It Takes69传媒� 69传媒� written by (NFL QB) Russell Wilson's mental health coach,69传媒� Johnson said. 69传媒淎nd the pages (I read) were talking about when Russell Wilson threw four picks in the (2014 NFC Championship). Then, (with his) back against the wall, his mindset never changed. He's up leading his guys, head up, all the confidence in the world in himself, and he just goes out there and plays free, and they ended up winning that game.

69传媒淭hat just really gave me a lot of confidence. Things aren't always going to go my way and the biggest thing, especially for a young quarterback, is how I'm going to respond when adversity hits. And I did a poor job last week of responding in adverse times. And a big focus for this week was just not letting any pressure, any of that type of stuff, get to me this week, and just going on playing free and playing my game."

Johnson is the first K-State quarterback to have multiple rushing and passing touchdowns in the same Big 12 game since Collin Klein, his former offensive coordinator, had three passing touchdowns and four rushing scores in K-State69传媒檚 dismantling of West Virginia in 2012.

You could also say Saturday was a response game for Kansas State69传媒檚 receivers. Coming into the game, the Wildcat wideouts were averaging around nine catches for just over 95 yards per game with no touchdowns.

Those numbers took a huge leap on Saturday as Brown, Keagan Johnson, Jadon Jackson, and Ty Bowman combined for 204 yards on 14 catches and a big 55-yard touchdown catch from Brown.

69传媒淚 think we harped on catching the ball and making sure we do our part,69传媒� Brown said. 69传媒淪o I feel like our guys came out here and played real hard.69传媒�

The other big change was in the red zone. Last week, the Wildcats had three opportunities inside the 20-yard line and all of them ended with K-State kicking field goals.

On Saturday, the Wildcats ventured into the red zone four times and came away with touchdowns every time.

"We took a lot of pride in that this week," Johnson said. "We got a lot of stuff dialed up and repped going into this game that we are comfortable with and confident in, and we just went out there and executed. So credit to the rest of the offense and the defense who got a bunch of takeaways and a bunch of stops for us today, and got us the ball back a bunch of times."

The Wildcats will get the week off before facing a Colorado team that69传媒檚 high off of a 20-point road win over UCF in which they were nearly two-touchdown underdogs. It will be K-State69传媒檚 first game at historic Folsom Field since 2010. The Wildcats will be looking for their first win in Boulder since 2006, Ron Prince69传媒檚 first season.